We are Fé and Gen from Canada. We have been cosplaying together for 2 years now, but Fé has been cosplaying for 10 years so that makes Gen the newbie!

2. How did you get started in with cosplay, what was your first cosplay?

Gen: I started cosplaying in 2010 because I wanted to attend an anime convention with my friends. I never cosplayed before that because I didn’t know people I could go to conventions with. I was really into Bleach at the time, so I decided to cosplay as Sunsun. I think it was a good choice because it wasn’t too challenging to make for a begginer without sewing knowledge. Also, I was nervous about getting my picture taken so cosplaying as a character who covers her mouth with one of her long sleeves was perfect for me; I had my photo pose figured out for me already.

Fé: I did the usual Halloween costume cosplay thing in the late 90s. I went to my first convention in 2003 dressed as Yuli from Pop’n Music.

Gen’s Shampoo Cosplay from Ranma 1/2

3. What has been your favourite cosplay?

Gen: My favourite cosplay is Margaret from Persona 4. I’m very proud of how it’s constructed,the fabric choices and how well it’s coordinated with Fé’s Elizabeth costume. We won a hall award for these costumes at Anime North and I was really happy!

Fé: I can’t pick just one! I usually love my latest costume best… until the next one!

We usually start working on costumes many months ahead of the convention we plan on wearing them to. When you get more experienced at making costumes you can manage to make them in less time, but in the beginning I think it’s good to have plenty of time or if you’re just a bit lazy like us, haha.First we try to find as many reference pictures of the character as we can in order to figure out what clothing pieces or props are necessary to make. The next step is finding similar base patterns to modify among the commercial patterns from Vogue, Butterick, McCalls, Simplicity,etc. We usually don’t draft patterns from scratch unless it’s very easy, like skirts or when the clothing item just doesn’t look much like real clothing, such as Penelo’s top from FFXII:Revenant Wings.Then comes fabric shopping which also takes a considerable amount of time, because we like to pick our fabrics very carefully. We always make an effort to mix different fabric textures in our costumes and try to stay away from popelin and cotton as much as we can since it tends to look too plain.A lot of the sewing is done at our sewing classes, so we get to see each other’s progress along the way. It’s great to work in a pair since we can brainstorm and get awesome ideas that we wouldn’t have thought of by ourselves! Plus, it’s a lot more fun to work on cosplay with friends!When the convention gets closer, we take some time to think about what type of makeup we want for our characters. Sometimes it’s simple and doesn’t require much thought besides picking the right false eyelashes and eyeshadow colour. Other times it’s more elaborated such as with our Elizabeth and Margaret cosplays. We specifically wanted to have pale skin and even though we both have very pale complexions, white wigs made us look more tan than usual. We ended up mixing white foundation with our regular liquid foundation to get the right look. It’s good to practice your makeup once before the convention with the wig so you know what to expect.

5. Do you have any favorite Asian films?

Gen: I honestly don’t watch a lot of movies, but I like to watch Japanese movies sometimes.My favorites are Kamikaze Girls and Nobody Knows. Oh, let’s not forget the Rebuild of Evangelion movies. I can’t wait to watch Evangelion: 3.0.

Fé: I don’t watch movies at all. I prefer to play video games.

6. What is the biggest learning curve you have learned about the hobby?

Gen’s Fuuka Cospaly from Persona 3

Gen: For me, the thing that was the most difficult to learn is working with wigs. I don’t cut my own hair, so cutting a wig for the first time was scary. My first attempts weren’t successful and even now I’m afraid I can’t say that I have mastered this aspect of cosplay. I do some of the styling myself, but I always ask Fé for help for cutting them!

Fé: The most difficult for me is anything that doesn’t involve fabric or synthetic hair. I’m terrible at footwear or props and will do whatever I can to get out of doing them (like styling and cutting Gen’s wigs!).

7. Do you have one piece of advice that you would give to cosplay virgins?

Gen: Try not to obsess with cosplay “popularity”. With Facebook and all the social cosplay websites, it’s so easy to compare yourself to others and get discouraged. The point of cosplay shouldn’t be to get the most “Likes” on a page or gaining popularity, but to have fun creating (or

wearing) a costume, hanging out with friends and sharing your love of a fandom. I think you’ll enjoy the hobby much more if you focus on that instead of cosplayer rankings and who gets the most pictures taken.

Fé: Choose your cosplay carefully. I think picking the right or wrong character for your first cosplay can make you fall in love with the hobby or hate it! It’s important to love the character,pick an outfit that is not too daunting to make (if you are making it) and that flatters your figure.

8. Lastly, what is your con schedule looking like through early 2013?

In 2013, we will be attending Anime North in Toronto and Otakuthon in Montreal, two of the largest anime conventions in Canada.

Thanks Gen and Fe Join in our this week’s cosplay interviews, and miccostumes will sponsor Uta no Prince-sama Saotome Academy Girls Uniform and Uta no Prince-Sama Haruka Nanami wig for teamblasecosplay,hope we can see their new cosplay photos soon!.

This is a super fast and easy tutorial for those who purchase the Hatsune Miku Cosplay Costume or those that have lost their hair clips. If you purchase your costume from Miccostumes you would have notice you received hair clips that are not solid like Miku’s but are made from fabric. This tutorial will help those cosplay perfectionists out there looking for a cheap alternative. What you need:

It’s been a longggg time since our last Fanart Feature! I’ve been busy with work and my own cosplay XD but IT’S BACK! Fanart features will now be posted up randomly rather than on a weekly schedule.

First up is Jessica Morales from the USA. Her works are of Sakagami Tomoyo from Clannad and Saeko Busujima from High School of the Dead. Both digital works done on Sai and Photoshop. Check out here deviantart page here

Next is the beautiful work of Vocaloid Rin Kagamine from the song Chronophobia by Luz Labajos from Spain. The work combines a range of mediums such as Pencil, Paint and Photoshop. Check out their page for more awesome works

Last for this week is Diana Sim’s digital work from Canada. The first drawing is from Inuyasha and the second drawing is from Tales of Vesperia. Visit her Deviantart page here

To have the chance for your works to be featured here please email us at miccostumesfanart [@] gmail.com with the following:
Your Name
Country.
Website [if desired]
Medium of work i.e. Pencil, Paint, Photoshop etc.
A maximum of 2 works attached in the email
The name of the anime/manga/video game it is from